"What the…"

Lucy stopped short, a glinting nearby catching her eye. Almost immediately, her stomach sank. The air felt constrictive and, a few paces behind her, Evergreen called out in confusion. She waited for her, but couldn't hide her curiosity. Evergreen pulled off her shoes to reach her quicker against the sand.

"Lucy?" Evergreen eyed her oddly. "Something wrong?"

Lucy hesitated but then motioned for her to follow her. When they reached the base of the towering cliff at the end of the beach, the light Lucy had seen was still glinting in between some crags and footfalls. Evergreen glared at the sight and reached into the small gap between the rocks. She felt something cold brush against her hand, and, she could have sworn, a human hand. She was not stuck, however, and her hand was able to wrap around something in the gap.

"Ever?" Lucy hesitantly pressed. "Are you -"

"I've got something," She told her. "It's a little heavy though, so -"

Evergreen swore when managed to wrench it out, a little surprised that she had almost thrown a book into Lucy's face. "Sorry about that," Evergreen sighed, rubbing her neck. "Mind taking a look at that?"

"Sure," Lucy said, picking up the book and opening it curiously. "Wow…" She breathed. "It's written in gold….I haven't seen that in decades. Honestly, I think the last time I saw anything written in gold was when Natsu and Happy made me take that job involving Everlue."

"Ugh, that old creep?" Ever rolled her eyes. "Nothing good has ever come of people like that. But, anyways, is there anything worthwhile in there Lucy?"

Lucy flipped through the pages, scanning them for anything but finding nothing. Blowing her hair out of her eyes, Lucy sighed.

"I don't think there's anything interesting here," She dropped the book, letting it fall open. "I mean, honestly, look at it. It's probably been there for decades."

"Decades?" Ever rolled her eyes. "Don't take this the wrong way, Lucy, but there's no way that was there for decades. It's in too good shape for that. Why the hell would you even think that?"

"Well -" Lucy started, jumping back when it started to shake. "That can't be good."

"No, it's not," Evergreen pulled off her glasses, glaring at what lay before them. "Damn it, Lucy, why did you have to -"

"Why did I have to?" Lucy exclaimed, turning to her in shock. "You're the one who grabbed the book in the first -"

The two mages ducked out of the way as shadows and smoke began to pour out of the book. They quickly began to take forms - human forms - but the two women were quick enough to roll out of the way when they ran at them. Lucy reached into her pouch and pulled out her keys, quickly searching for Aquarius. The second she had it tightly in her hands, she ran towards the water. Evergreen jumped up in the other direction, hoping to get a better vantage point. She summoned wings with her magic and fluttered up. Shoving her glasses into her bra, Ever tried to freeze them. When she realised she couldn't, her stomach sank.

"Lucy!" Ever yelled. "They're not -"

"Phantoms!" Lucy shouted back. "They're phantoms, and -"

She dug Aquarius' key into the rising rapids, struggling to focus her magic energy long enough to open it. The phantoms came only closer to her and Evergreen, who had reached into her purse and whipped out several fans. She swung one at the phantoms, hoping to cut through them long enough to buy them time. It cut through them, and then, in a split second, the waves violently rose. Evergreen looked towards the water and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Aquarius, although Lucy seemed to be struggling not to get swept away too. Dispelling her wings and running towards the water, Ever danced through the smoke, cutting back the phantoms with her fans.

"Oh, for fuck's -"

Evergreen cursed and tried to roll out of the way, but got caught up in the water. She dug herself onto the sand, trying to, if it were possible, hold on as heavy waves crashed over and around her. It wasn't long before they overcame her, and the mage angrily thrashed out of it the best she could. A few seconds after she stood up, though, she was knocked down again and, more annoying to her, found Lucy had been knocked on top of her. Ever scowled at her, trying to force her off but the water smacked over them again. A few seconds later, the water began to calm and they could see the phantoms had disappeared. The book was soaked, but still there, if much closer to the water than before.

"Lucy!" Evergreen hissed. "Get off of me!"

Lucy, realising how awkwardly they were positioned on each other, quickly tried to scramble off but was punched down by an all-too-familiar crop.

"Enjoy explaining this one to your husband," Aquarius smirked and gestured to Natsu and Happy, who were approaching in the distance. "Still can't believe you have one."

"Oh, come on!" Lucy screamed, finally ripping herself off the (extremely disgruntled) Evergreen.

"Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed, letting her embrace him in exhaustion. "What happened?"

"You look awful," Happy remarked, flying to Evergreen. "Hey! Elfman wanted to know if -"

"If he's with our son, I don't care," Evergreen replied, angrily brushing herself off. "Damn it. This is never going to get out."

"Really," Natsu said, awkwardly trying not to drop his wife. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Lucy admitted. "But -"

"I think I know what happened," Evergreen said darkly, pointing to the book. "And it has to do with that."


"Toma," Laxus let out an irritated sigh. "I'm not in the mood. Fal isn't going anywhere, and neither are we. I don't give a damn what Freed and Mira are doing."

Toma evenly stared down his son-in-law. "I understand you and Hisui are both worried about your children right now, but it is better for us all to be united, to show -"

"We're not going to act like nothing has changed," Laxus snapped. "Ever since Fal was brought home safe, you've been acting as if we should all accept what happened and pretend it didn't, that it was nothing! It's not that simple!"

"I never said it was that simple," Toma tersely replied. "What happened was awful, and I'm sure Fallon is going to have to come to terms with it for quite some time, perhaps even the rest of her life. However -"

"There's no 'however' here," Laxus paused for a second, trying to calm himself. "We're not just talking about my Fal's health, we're talking about Annie and Sylvain too, not to mention me and 'Sui."

Toma narrowly eyed him. A nervous jolt ran through him. Hisui had gone out with Fallon, who had desperately wanted to leave the palace, but she would be back soon. He didn't much fancy the thought of having to warn her that he had another argument with Toma. It would be just one more thing for her to worry about, which was the last thing he wanted to be responsible for. Still...they had agreed to stay as far out of the public as possible, for the sake of their children.

"Daddy?" Annetta poked her head into the drawing room, hesitating when she saw her grandfather. Laxus, however, grateful for any excuse to not have to elaborate further, stood up and waved her in.

"What is it, Annie?" Laxus glanced between her and Toma, well aware that his father-in-law was not done with him. "If you're looking for your mother, she's still out."

Annetta shook her head. "I don't think she'd like this," The young princess quietly admitted. "It's about...well, last night Fal said she thinks it has something to do with an eclipse."

"What?" Laxus stared at her, his brow furrowed. "Annie, what the hell are you talking about?"

Annetta reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of diamond earrings. Laxus felt his heart sink, but Toma looked sick.

"Where did you find those?" Toma breathed in horror. "They….they were lost after...after…"

"Annie," Laxus said slowly. "Set those down."

Annetta did so, albeit shockingly calm. "What is it?" She asked, sitting down and starting to twist her hair in her hands. "Why -"

"Those haven't been seen in years," Laxus told her, casting a dark look at the earrings. "You didn't try to put them on, did you?"

"No," Annetta glanced to her grandfather, who was still visibly shaken. "What do they have to do with an eclipse? What -"

She turned around suddenly upon the door to the drawing room opening. When she saw her mother and her siblings' godmother, Annetta perked up a little, if only because she was sure they would know something. However, when Hisui saw the earrings, she paled and almost immediately reached up to touch her own. Caitlin steadied her with one hand, nervously fidgeting with her glasses with the other, while Laxus quickly came over to his wife. Hisui stared at the earrings in abject horror, and Caitlin sent Laxus a pointed look as he began to gently stroke his wife's hair. Hisui all but clung to him, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

"Annie," Caitlin said, using her magic to lift up the earrings, discomfort rising in her chest. "Where on earth did you find these?"

"It was in mommy's room," Annetta awkwardly glanced to her parents. "I was looking for a book last night...but I saw these first. I showed them to Fal because they didn't look like mommy's….and Fal said it had something to do with an eclipse, but I don't know what that -"

"Those vanished from the Council's possession a decade ago," Hisui quietly told her. "And you...they were meant for me?"

Annetta nodded anxiously. "I mean, yes, but -"

"Annie, those were used to kill your grandmother," Laxus said, sighing heavily. Hisui was shaking badly in his arms, and Laxus how painful the memory of what had happened was. "That's why I didn't want you to have put them on….because they are cursed and would have killed you."

Annetta bit her lip. "Were they supposed to kill mommy?"

"Sounds like it," Caitlin said grimly, a clear edge of anger rising in her voice. "I'm going to hand Ivan's ass to him if he ever shows his face in the kingdom again. After -"

"I'll get to him first," Laxus shook his head and gently pressed a kiss to Hisui's forehead. "'Sui?"

"I've had enough of them," She whispered, fury in her eyes. "I want this over, and I want it to be over soon."

"I do too," Laxus looked back to Annetta, who seemed more and more nervous by the second. "Annie, I'm glad you're alright, but don't wait to tell us if something like this ever happens again. After what happened to your sister, honestly, I'm shocked you didn't tell us right away...but I suppose I can understand why."

Annetta stared down at her hands, guilt rising in her chest. "Sorry," She said softly. "I just didn't know what to say."

"Of course," Caitlin irritably dropped the earrings and crossed her arms. "God damn it. I…" She trailed off and shook her head. "Sorry, Annie. I just don't know what to think. How….we never were able to identify what happened when they went missing but...we assumed it would have been jewel thieves or another group, not…"

"Yes, exactly," Hisui said, swallowing hard. "We never thought this would come to the surface again, let alone like this."

A heavy silence befell them. Caitlin gently patted Annetta's shoulder, seeing how nervous she was. Toma looked between all four of them, burying his face in his hands. Then, weakly sitting down beside her daughter, Hisui pulled her in close. Laxus sat down beside her, worried for his children but even more so for his wife.

"I'm glad we're all okay," Laxus said, rubbing Hisui's back. "We can look into this tomorrow...but we really should tell Fallon and Sylvian too."

Hisui nodded. "They should know, yes," She agreed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I just don't know how to tell them."

"We'll figure it out," Laxus gave her an affectionate squeeze. "I promise."